This wooden broom, which weighs 3 pounds, functions like a mundane broom until you stand astride it and speak its command word. It then hovers beneath you and can be ridden in the air. It has a flying speed of 50 feet. It can carry up to 400 pounds, but its flying speed becomes 30 feet while carrying over 200 pounds. The broom stops hovering when you land.
You can send the broom to travel alone to a destination within 1 mile of you if you speak the command word, name the location, and are familiar with that place. The broom comes back to you when you speak another command word, provided that the broom is still within 1 mile of you.
Notes: Set: Speed (Flying), Movement, Utility, Exploration
Sure, that's true enough. Part of the challenge!
I feel like this item is missing in its description that when you are flying on it, that is your action (i.e. both hands are on it). Otherwise the other items for flying like a potion, scroll or carpet make no sense in price comparison. The alternatives are more costly per flight because you can fight (or whatever else) while flying.
What’s the rule on if you get hit while using a magic item to fly? Do you have to make a dex check to stay on? Only make saves on hard hits? One of my PCs has this broom and I want to balance it a bit with some kind of penalty since it’s not a natural flight, like with wings.
But all characters have a "set" speed and they can dash. I'd have to say that as long as a PC was using their action for the round to dash then they could coax another 50' out of this little broom yo.
Characters are not items. Items Cannot Dash. Yo
This is a really cool item.
Unfortunately, I must agree that this item cannot Dash, as Dash is an Action, & items do not get Actions unless specified. (Broom of Animated Attack could Dash though, with a potential carrying capacity of 200lbs.)
HOWEVER, since the user is Riding it (rather than this item giving the user a flight speed), the user could Ride it 50 feet, then use their own movement to Dismount (usually spends half*) and then to Dash, in addition to this item's movement. This additional movement appears to be possible when Riding anything.
Since most constructs & animated items (such as Broom of Animated Attack & Broom of Flying) do not get Frightened, their riders only have to pass checks to stay on if knocked Prone (though their "mount" might get hit by Antimagic, or Dispel Magic).
Prior versions of D&D before 5e, specified that mounts ridden in combat are directed with your knees, thereby keeping your hands free for actions & object interactions. No language, action, object interaction, or hand-occupying stuff needed! 5e doesn't seem to mention how a mount is controlled, yet. Although its user needs an unoccupied hand to swing this magic item between their legs, once flying it seems that until the user lands, no other object interaction requiring a hand is necessary, because one is riding, & riding doesn't specify needing your hands.
This item specifies that you can "stand astride it" & say its command word, to Ride it; then it stops when you land. *Whether a user expends half their movement to get on & off the broom might vary by GM judgement; is it "mounting & dismounting" or not? I would tend to rule that it is.
In fact, I'd count getting on it as both Mounting, and an Object Interaction; no interaction to Dismount (just movement) if you don't bother picking it up. 50 feet flying item plus a free dismount & full creature movement afterward, at no cost that turn, feels like it would be overly powerful even to me. 50 feet plus spending half movement upon landing seems reasonable.
Despite being at least 10 ft slower, the Broom of Flying does seem far more practical in combat than a 4x6 Carpet of Flying, which requires an Action to command each movement. On the other hand, a Carpet of Flying is great for travel, since you can command it what direction to fly & then take rests without stopping!
What rarity should this get, if it were a Javelin of Flying?
I'm a bit disappointed in the lack of magically returning/repeatable thrown weapons (one, for dwarves only, & another for throwing 2x daggers). Rather than giving + to Hit & Damage, doubling as a flying mount seems like it could make a magic javelin worthwhile without being too vanilla or OP.
This item should really have an Attunement requirement. It being operated using command words means that other characters/ BBEG’s can command the broom without the owning character being able to do anything, and because it’s no action, the characters are just yelling over each other to command the broom. Obviously DM discretion area there but Attune would fix it. Also just for balance reasons, effectively giving a fly speed should require attunement. .... also flavor wise, brooms of flying in media are usually bound to their owners in some way.
did I mention I think this item should have attunement?
You explicitly need to "stand astride" it for the Command Word to so much as register.
As a DM who has found out the hard way: think a very long time and treat this item as a rare magical item before you give it to players who will be doing combat out in the open.
Especially if they have spell sniper or the eldritch blast extender.
This broom has the hearing of my mother...... 1 mile away and still knows if you said its name.
your walking has a set speed as well.
your swimming speed has a set speed as well
also your climbing speed has a set speed as well
There is nothing in the rules that invalidate the dash action on an item that has a flying speed. otherwise, the Aarakocra couldn't dash either
Yeah, but those movement mechanics get all wonky out of combat. Worse is vehicle combat.. like thw devil rides in avernus..anybody from and back has to basically gold action until the driver gets the vehicle in range, and the turn order make it seem like a traffic jam instead of mad max. Though 100+ movement speed seems fast the reality of the math says otherwise.
The item has a movement speed, it is not using the characters movement speed, and only some vehicle can dash as an action.
You have thw dash action, the item does not. Just the same, skills like mobility do not confer an increase in movement speed to the broom... some vehicles are capable of a dash action, like wagons, devil rides, oar powered vessels etc... the broom does not.
FYI, my fizban clone wizard keeps everything in his hat (dimensional pocket, like a very limited bag of holding), including this broom which has helped him vanish from the group he mentors without them being the wiser. How he comes and goes remains a mystery to them.
For those of you debating the ability to dash I hope this Jeremy Crawford tweet clears it up for you. The DM can still choose their own way this item works as it is their table, but Jeremy is the Principal rules designer of Dungeons & Dragons so his input is worth considering.
https://twitter.com/jeremyecrawford/status/953363603033214976?lang=en
Good old JC said he would allow a player to dash with a broom of flying. He also didn't explicitly state that the RAW neccessarily support this. It seems like one of those things you just have to talk to your DM about.
I don't understand why this
Meanwhile, boots of Levitation are strictly worse, are rare, require attunement and concentration.
This broom should be legendary tier.